American Cookery

First Edition of American Cookery

American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons, is the first known cookbook written by an American, published in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1796. Until then, the cookbooks printed and used in the Thirteen Colonies were British. Its full title is: American Cookery, or the art of dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables, and the best modes of making pastes, puffs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards, and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the imperial plum to plain cake: Adapted to this country, and all grades of life.

Simmons' American Cookery used terms known to Americans, and ingredients that were readily available to American cooks.[1][2] It was the first cookbook to include New England specialties such as Indian pudding, johnnycake, and what is now called pumpkin pie. The cookbook was the first to suggest serving cranberry with turkey, and the first to use the Hudson River Valley Dutch word cookey.[1][2] It introduced the use of pearlash, a precursor of baking soda, as a chemical leavener, starting a revolution in the making of American cakes.[3]: 31 [4]

The book was quite popular and was printed, reprinted and pirated for 30 years after its first appearance. Only four copies of the first edition are known to exist.[5] It is considered by the Library of Congress to be one of the “Books That Shaped America.”[6]

The importance of this work cannot be overestimated. Its initial publication (Hartford, 1796) was, in its own way, a second Declaration of American Independence ...

— —Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project[7]
  1. ^ a b Stavely, Keith; Fitzgerald, Kathleen (January 12, 2018). "What America's First Cookbook Says About Our Country and Its Cuisine". Smithsonian magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Brown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Civitello was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Longone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Cooking by the Book: Amelia Simmons to Martha Stewart". Connecticut Historical Society. January 17, 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  6. ^ "January 22, 2013 Library of Congress "Books That Shaped America" Available on Amazon". Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  7. ^ Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project, Michigan State University Library